James Madison Memorial Fellowship Program
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To strengthen secondary school teaching of the principles, framing, and development of the U.S. Constitution; to contribute to a deeper understanding of American government and to foster in both teachers and students the spirit of civic participation that inspired the Nation's founders.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
For future and current secondary school teachers of American history, American government, or social studies of grades seven through twelve.
Who is eligible to apply...
College seniors and college graduates without teaching experience (Junior Fellow) and experienced secondary school teachers of grades seven through twelve (Senior Fellows) may apply.
Credentials/Documentation
A Senior Fellow must be a full-time teacher of American history, American government, or social studies in grades seven through twelve and be under contract or prospective contract to teach full time as a secondary school teacher of the same subjects. A Junior Fellow must possess a bachelor's degree or plan to receive a bachelor's degree no later than August 31 of the year in which he or she is applying. An applicant must have a demonstrated record of commitment to civic responsibilities and to professional and collegial activities; qualify for admission with graduate standing at an accredited university that offers a qualifying Master's degree program (a Master of Arts in history or political science, a Master of Arts in teaching, in history, or in social studies, a related Master's degree in education that permits a concentration in history, government, social studies or political science) which allows at least twelve semester hours or their equivalent of study of the origins, principles, and development of the U.S. Constitution and its comparison with the histories of other forms of government (six of these required twelve semester hours of constitutional study may be earned at the Foundation's required four-week Summer Institute on the Constitution); and be committed to teaching American history, American government, or social studies full time in grades seven through twelve after the receipt of a Master's degree for a period of not less than one year for each full academic year of study for which assistance is received under a fellowship, preferably in the State of the Fellow's legal residence at the time of the fellowship award.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Individuals wishing to apply for fellowships must request application materials from the Foundation. Applications must include: (a) Supporting information which affirms an applicant's wish to be considered for a fellowship; information about the applicant's background, interests, goals, academic record, and an explanation of the applicant's educational plans and how those plans will lead to or enhance a career as a teacher; (b) an essay of up to 600 words that explains the importance of study of the Constitution: 1) To young students; 2) to the applicant's career aspirations and his or her contribution to public service; and 3) to citizenship generally in a constitutional republic; (c) the applicant's proposed course of graduate study including the specific degree sought and the courses to be taken that leads to a Master's degree; and (d) three evaluations that attest to the applicant's academic achievements and intellectual strengths and to his or her potential or proven ability as a secondary school teacher.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
An independent Fellow Selection Committee will evaluate all valid applications and recommend the most outstanding applicant or applicants from each State for James Madison Fellowships. Applicants compete only against other applicants from the State of their legal residence. Applicants are evaluated on their: (a) Demonstrated commitment to a career in teaching American history, American government, or social studies at the secondary level; (b) demonstrated intent to pursue a program of graduate study that emphasizes the Constitution and offers classroom instruction in that subject; (c) demonstrated devotion to civic responsibility: (d) demonstrated capacity for graduate study, as well as proven potential performance as classroom teachers (for Junior Fellowship applicants) or proven outstanding performance as classroom teachers (for Senior Fellowship applicants); and (e) proposed courses of graduate study, especially the nature and extent of their subject content components and their relationship to the enhancement of the applicants' teaching and professional activity. In this regard, a content degree such as one in history or political science may enhance an application versus a MED or a MAT. Candidates recommended for fellowships by the Fellow Selection Committee will be named James Madison Fellows. The selection procedure will ensure that at least one James Madison Fellow (junior or senior) is selected from each State in which there are at least two resident applicants who meet the minimum criteria of eligibility and are judged to merit an award.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
February 15, each year for request of application materials; March 1, each year for receipt of applications for the James Madison Fellowship competition.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
April, each year the Fellow Selection Committee meets to recommend to the Foundation the appointment of Fellows; April, each year the James Madison Fellows are named by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation (applicants are notified of selection results); May, each year the names of new James Madison Fellows are publicly announced.
Preapplication Coordination
Application materials may be requested by individuals who meet the eligibility requirements stated above. Completed applications must be received by March 1. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
None.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Top contenders and applicants who were not awarded a fellowship are encouraged to submit a fresh application for the current year's competition. Top contenders may elect to sign a Resubmission Agreement authorizing their original application to be placed before the current year's Fellow Selection Committee for consideration for a fellowship award. A Fellowship Application Update Form is also provided if an applicant chooses to include such information.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals will benefit.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Direct Payments for Specified Use
Financial assistance from the Federal government provided directly to individuals, private firms, and other private institutions to encourage or subsidize a particular activity by conditioning the receipt of the assistance on a particular performance by the recipient. This does not include solicited contracts for the procurement of goods and services for the Federal government.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Payments are made only for the actual costs of tuition, required fees, books, shared room, and board for the pursuit of qualifying degrees. The maximum amount of each award is $24,000, pro-rated over the period of study. In no case shall the award exceed $12,000 for one academic year of study. Normally, Fellows receive less than these maximum amounts. Payments are made only for the minimum number of credits required for the award of the degree for which a Fellow is registered and for no more.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Fellowships) FY 03 $1,026,000; FY 04 est $950,000; and FY 05 est $1,090,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
95-8282-0-7-502.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Not applicable.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
Since 1992, the year of the Madison Foundation's inaugural national competition, more than 673 Fellowship Awards have been made to prospective and existing secondary school teachers. There are currently 77 active Junior Fellows (prospective teachers) and 266 active Senior Fellows (existing teachers) from the six classes of Fellows. Graduate degrees in history, political science, and education have been awarded to 411 Fellows thus far and 224 Fellows have also completed the teaching requirement phase of their Fellowships.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Not applicable.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
It is the intent of the Foundation to renew Junior Fellowships annually for a period not to exceed 2 calendar years and to renew Senior Fellowships annually for a period not to exceed five calendar years, or until a Fellow has completed the minimum number of credits required for the Master's degree, whichever comes first. Renewal will be in accordance with regulations established by the Foundation, subject to an annual review and certification by authorized officials of the university at which a Fellow is registered that the Fellow (if a Junior Fellow) is not engaged in gainful employment that interferes with the Fellow's studies and that the Fellow is making satisfactory progress toward the degree and is in good academic standing. In some cases, Junior Fellows may be permitted to study part-time and Senior Fellows to study full-time. The Foundation may suspend or terminate a fellowship when it obtains evidence that a Fellow is not making satisfactory progress toward the degree or is not in compliance with fellowship requirements.
Formula and Matching Requirements
Not applicable.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
Each Fellow must complete the graduate degree study for which fellowship payments have been advanced and provide evidence of the receipt of a qualifying Master's degree within the amount of time indicated above. This study must included participation in an annual Summer Institute on the Constitution. After receiving the Master's degree, each Fellow must teach American history, American government, or social studies in grades seven through twelve for no less than 1 year for each full academic year of study under a fellowship. A Professional Teaching Obligation form is required for annual verification of professional status as a secondary level school teacher.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
Not applicable.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
Not applicable.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Act, Public Law 99-591, 100 Stat. 3341-76, 20 U.S.C. 4501-4517.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
45 CFR 2400.